Alone Together WidowmakerxReaper
by EpicClimax0
Summary: Reaper is sent by Talon to kidnap Amélie Lacroix to lure Gerard to their headquarters. However Reaper begins to sympathize with her, and his feelings begin to conflict with his mission. This takes places during and after her transition into becoming Widowmaker. ReaperxWidowmaker.
1. New Year's Eve

It was New Year's Eve and the mission couldn't be simpler. After multiple attempts of trying to assassinate Gerard, Reaper was refreshed that they were trying something else. Kidnapping his wife and letting him come to them was brilliant. He was actually surprised that they hadn't thought of it before. Amélie was easy prey and as a hostage she was extremely valuable. Reaper alone was given the mission since stealth was all they needed. No need for an entire team to catch a defenseless woman, Reaper had done worse and he had no qualms about what he was tasked with.

Talon was an enemy of Overwatch as was he; and he would do anything to see the wretched organization fall to its knees. They had received word that Mrs. Lacroix had booked a suite for New Year's in Goldstein Towers. Probably celebrating, Reaper imagined, but not for long. He had entered the hotel in wraith form with no one suspecting his prescience.

It was a high end building, dressed with the finest security and décor. Gold finishes around the tables, tasteful flower arrangements, New Year's banners and the like. Champagne flowed like a river between glasses in the lobby with all the fat cats and their upscale escorts laughing and drinking.

It made him want to puke.

Blind fools, all of them careless to the horrors of the world. He sacrificed everything so these clowns could cluster together in packs and overindulge themselves in debauchery. They weren't worth protecting, his heart hardened with regret as he watched them all from the rafters. He was searching for Amélie amongst the slog of human excess. He really just wanted to kill all of them; stomp all their powdered faces into the ground, rip the tacky pearls off their necks, hear them plead for the lives they didn't deserve.

Anger kept swelling up inside of him as he kept trying to look for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. This was odd since this was the only party happening in the hotel. Everyone who was anyone would have been here. He began to suspect that maybe she had retired to her room, but it was almost midnight she should have been at the party. Since he couldn't stand watching the blatant ignorance on display he went with his instincts and floated to the elevator.

She had reserved the top floor suite with a balcony view of the city. He pressed the top button and waited to see if his hunch was right. The elevator dinged and he immediately floated in the apartment suite with upmost stealth. It was a massive room, he darted around everywhere but soon he found her on the balcony.

There she was… the slender woman sitting all alone on New Year's Eve, drinking wine and staring into the night sky. The fireworks were going to appear soon, he decided that would be his moment to strike. He waited around the corner, only two minutes to go. Watching her from afar she seemed as if she was in deep thought.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed with worry, and she began tapping the table in an impatient manner. Reaper noticed that she looked slightly different than in her picture, she had put on eyeshadow and lipstick making her look more womanly. He knew she was fairly young, 29 but she looked more mature tonight. Even still, Reaper wondered why she wasn't at the party and just sitting outside all by herself. He wasn't complaining, it made his job that much easier but still it was strange.

Suddenly her phone rang and her hand clutched it so fast it was obvious that she had been waiting for it.

"Bonjour?!" she answered breathlessly.

Silence, she was hanging off every word to whoever was speaking to her. Reaper suspected it was someone who had gotten word of Talon's plans and was trying to warn her. _Damn it_ , he thought, _I guess I'll have to move in now._ He slowly crept out from behind the corner of the door. But before he could make a move-

"but Gerard it is New Year's Eve surely you don't need to work-" and then she was cut off. More silence, from that Reaper knew what the conversation was about. He backed off and kept listening, still wary of the possibility of a warning.

Reaper saw her slender finger circle the rim of her wine glass, steady at first but got slower and slower as the silence dragged on. It was almost hypnotic, watching it spin in circles under the moonlight. It was such a small thing to fixate on, yet Reaper couldn't help but stare.

Finally she stopped and lowered her head "oui I understand mon amour I just... I miss you," her voice trembled.

Reaper felt a twinge of sympathy for the woman. Gerard was a fool for falling in love while working for Overwatch. That line of work mixed with a relationship could only end in disaster. The long hours, the deadly missions, the public attention, it tore apart everything all for the sake of supposed glory. Overwatch would pay; as long as he drew breath he would make them suffer for how they ruined him. Turning his attention back to Amélie, she nodded weakly

"I love you too Gerard, happy New Year's" the call ended.

It was only a few more seconds until the fireworks went off. The countdown was being chanted below throughout the city square, each number preparing Reaper to strike. Amélie crumpled in her chair and her hands buried her face. Reaper saw her shiver but she didn't say a word. Then he heard her crying, quiet at first but it grew louder and louder. Her agony swelled with each second. She began to mutter angrily in French. The words were sharp and bitter, heated with anger that had been steadily boiling for years. She suddenly got up and gripped the railing of the balcony.

"Curse you Overwatch!" she cried out to the heavens. Her tears came rushing down her face ruining her makeup. "You will burn for taking him away from moi again! But I am the idiot for thinking I could have one nuit with him alone… but non… he is too busy for moi," she grabbed her glass and raised it to the sky. "Not even Noel, or mon anniversaire. I can never see him again because of you! So I toast to Gerard, and I pray that he will come back home safely. I pray that we can be together again!" She began guzzling down her glass.

Now was the time.

5\. He stepped out from behind the corner. She kept drinking.

4\. He grabbed the chloroform rag in his pocket.

3\. She tossed her glass out into the abyss.

2\. He was right behind her; she was in her own world.

1\. The glass shattered below.

He grabbed her by the waist with one arm, the shock hit her immediately but the rag covered her mouth before she could scream. She kicked and flailed but there was nothing she could do. She began to lose consciousness and laid helplessly in Reapers arms. The fireworks were so loud that no one heard a thing. The colours illuminated her face and Reaper could see the fresh tears roll down her cheeks. They weren't from being captured though; they were from being left alone in the dark... because of Overwatch.

That struck a chord with him. As he stared at her face she appeared almost angelic, sleeping peacefully in his arms. He felt angry for her, the same anger that consumed his soul he felt for someone else. His target, his prey, he felt just like her not long ago.

 _Abandoned..._

He wiped away the tears on her face and held her bridal style in his arms. She was a victim of Overwatch just like him; he couldn't help but feel connected to her in a way. That's why he was gentle with her while going back to Talon. She had already suffered enough. To this day Reaper wonders if he still would have carried out the mission had he known the real plan. He never knew what horrors were awaiting her once they got to headquarters.


	2. Fallen Angel

_AN: There is a song that comes up in the story, you can listen to it or not it's up to you._

When he arrived his superiors were pleased that he delivered her unharmed. It would be better for the exchange if as little damage was done to her as possible they reasoned. Not that Reaper wanted to hurt her anyway, if the mission called for it he would have but he preferred not to. She was different from the rest of the fools in that haven of greed. All she wanted was to spend a night with her husband, but Overwatch took that away from her.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for her, and he hoped that the ransom would open their eyes to the damage they had done. He carried her gently to her room; it was completely grey, metallic and lifeless. A downgrade from her fancy lifestyle, but the bed was comfy.

He laid her down and pulled the covers over her. It was a bizarrely tender gesture, but he locked her in there as he was told to do so no one asked him any questions. Reaper was mysterious even among Talon members, and asking questions just pissed him off so it was better to leave him alone.

He stomped over to his quarters and turned on the lights. He had his own room in the Talon base, it was smaller than the one he had at Overwatch but he liked it that way. Many didn't know, but Reaper was a big music junkie. His holoPod was filled with all kinds of songs, and he enjoyed listening and tuning out of the world. He put the earbuds in and turned on _"Fallen Angel" by Three Days Grace_.

As he was listening he couldn't help but think about her. In particular, the way she looked as she was unconscious in his arms. It was just moments before then that she had been ranting to the stars about seeing her husband. The man who would never be there for her, always busy with Overwatch until the day he'd die. She was left alone surrounded by mindless materialistic zombies, told to put on a pretty face and make nice with the scum of the earth.

The more he thought about it the angrier he got. He couldn't get her face out of his head, the pain she covered with makeup streaking down her cheeks. All the hatred and anger erased with a rag and her face finally at peace. All because of him… he groaned and covered his face with his hand.

Why was he even thinking about this? It didn't matter. She was just a hostage he felt bad for, and she'd force Gerard to come to Talon and rescue her. Ha, as if he deserved to save her. He wasn't even there for her when she broke down. All she had wanted was his company, and his head was so far up his ass he couldn't even give her that. No, of course Overwatch is more important than your beautiful wife you stupid wretched conniving little- …

Reaper sat up from his bed and rubbed his temples. He really needed to stop thinking about this. It was just a mission. She was just a pawn. He didn't care about her or her husband; all he cared about was destroying Overwatch. Their importance was directly related to the mission, and that was all. She could die for all he cared and nothing would change that.

He paused and sat up in his bed. He took off his jacket, his boots, and everything save the mask. He never took off the mask. He shut off his music and turned off the lights. As he lay in bed he forced himself not to think about her with every fibre in his being. Not the way her finger glided across the glass, or the way her lips stilled when he was carrying her, or the way her hair flowed down her back, or the way she pined for a man she couldn't have... he tried not to think about any of it.

The next morning Reaper got ready as soon as possible to check up on Amélie. He didn't care if it looked suspicious; he just needed to see her again. He went over to her chambers and saw her awake and annoyed. He was looking through the one way glass panel so she couldn't see him.

It was for security reasons, along with the cameras setup around her room monitoring her 24/7. The worker holding her breakfast tray came over and put his hand on the entrance scanner. Reaper couldn't help but interfere.

"I'll take it to her" he growled sternly.

The guy looked up at Reaper confused at his order. "Uh well okay, it doesn't matter who gives her breakfast I guess," he handed the tray over to Reaper and walked away. Reaper took a deep breath and the automated doors slid open.

He stormed in menacingly with purpose, but Amélie wasn't fazed by his appearance. Her face was twisted into a scowl and she upturned her nose.

"I am not eating, au revoir," she crossed her arms.

It looked like she still wasn't filled in on her being a hostage.

Reaper placed the tray on her bed, "so you'd rather starve before Gerard comes to save you?" his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

That made her change her tune. "Gerard? That is why you have captured moi? You are after Gerard?!" she shrieked. "Non! If he comes then you will kill him!"

Reaper leaned against the wall, "that is the plan yes… maybe he should have thought about that before leaving you for dead," he inquired.

She shot back in anger, "He is busy trying to keep you from committing crime with your terrorist organization!"

"Too busy to protect his own wife?" he shot back.

Amélie froze and looked down in defeat.

"Tell me," Reaper continued "if he's such a great protector of the world how come he can't even be there for his wife on New Year's Eve? It's because of Overwatch. They tear people apart and send everyone who walks in their doors to their deathbeds. They brainwash their agents into thinking they're making some sort of difference in the world. Send them on suicide missions without a second thought. They try so hard to "save the world" that they don't realize they're the ones messing it up. That's why we're here to stop them, that's why we're giving them a wakeup call."

Amélie just stared down at her hands completely silent. Reaper just watched her, made mental notes of little details on her face. Her makeup had faded and she seemed like she was distancing herself. He remembered she had the same look as she was waiting for Gerard to call her, only for him to abandon her again for work.

He hoped he would beg for her back, only for her to reject him. Then maybe Overwatch would lose another great agent, making them that much weaker. He'd quit trying to get her back, but she'd be stronger without that smug idiot to dictate her life. She'd be her own woman, confident and independent. Reaper was still stuck in his head until Amélie broke the silence.

"I already knew that," her voice was harsh. She sat up straighter, "I've been married to an Overwatch agent for years, yet you speak as if you've known Overwatch all your life. Why do you care so much about it?" she asked. "Were you involved with Overwatch somehow? Did you have a loved one that died as an agent or… could it be… were you once an agent?" her voice sank.

She stared at him bewildered at the possibility. Reaper didn't respond. He briskly turned around and didn't look back.

"Eat your damn breakfast," he growled and the doors shut behind him.

 _AN: Thank you for reading so far. I will be continuing this so stick around. If you want to comment on anything hit me up with a review and tell me what you think. See you in the next chapter!_


	3. Phase three

She was plaguing his mind. Her words kept echoing in his head, recklessly taunting him. _"…were you once an agent?"_ The question made his blood boil. She didn't have any right to know about his past life. That man, Gabriel Reyes, was dead to the world and himself.

He stormed off to the Talon mess hall and sat in his usual spot; the dark corner all by himself. He just couldn't focus on eating and barely touched his food. He was getting too attached to her, too interested. She was just bait to kill Gerard. Yeah, she was just bait. She was convenient for the whims of Talon but otherwise useless to himself personally. So that was that, he'd stop thinking about her from then on out.

Suddenly up on the holoscreens the news was playing. A brunette reporter appeared and a red banner reading _Breaking News_ scrolled below her.

"We have received breaking news at the five star hotel Goldstein Towers. Mrs. Amelie Lacroix was found missing from her bedroom suite this morning," she announced.

"Hey turn it up, that's us!" one of the members shouted. The holoscreen's volume increased as everyone's eyes were glued to the reporter.

"It is confirmed that there has been no sign of her since last night on New Year's Eve. She was last seen going up to her room early during the annual party in the lobby. Her husband Gerard Lacroix reports that she had called him that night."

It switched to Gerard being interviewed at a press conference in France. The second he appeared Reaper couldn't help but get annoyed. Only now when she was missing did he give a damn about her. This was really all Gerard's fault, Reaper thought. If he wasn't so brainwashed by Overwatch he would have been there for her last night. It wouldn't have been so deliriously easy for Talon to kidnap her. Gerard looked at the reporters with concern, "Amelie is my wife, and I pray that she is alright. We are doing everything we can to find her." He then turned his attention right into the cameras with puppy dog eyes, "but if you are watching this mon chérie please know that I love you and if it was something I did to make you run away I am sorry. Just please come home," he begged to the camera.

Reaper placed his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall. The idiot was completely clueless. He thought his own wife had just run away because he was such a neglectful husband. Oh but it was far worse than that, Reaper smiled to himself. She was kidnapped because he was a shitty husband, and now to atone for his actions he would have to sacrifice his life for her freedom. No pleading to the cameras or fancy words, he had to come crawling to Talon and take her from them by force. From then on Reaper couldn't help but gloat in his head over the ironic justice. He couldn't think of Amelie as just bait and he couldn't think of Gerard as just a target. No this was far greater than just another mission. It was a statement to Overwatch, and if they couldn't decipher the message then Talon would take over.

Reaper tuned out of the rest of the report and Gerard's interview, he didn't care what else the jackass had to say. All he wanted to do was go straight to the morning meeting and find out what the next step was in their mission.

Finally the time came for the agents to congregate around the giant glowing table in the meeting room. The room was regularly checked for bugs and only had one entrance; a massive steel door with hand and voice recognition scanners to unlock. In an emergency the meeting room could double as a panic room, but it had never been used for that purpose. Reaper grabbed a seat along with the other Talon agents.

The head of operations was a cloaked man. No one had ever seen his face, and if they did they never lived to tell the tale. His code name was "Shepard" and just like the name he carried a metallic crook staff everywhere he went. He stood at the end of the table and projected a hologram of the plans. "Thank you all for coming. I'd like to start off by saying phase one of 'Operation Widowmaker' has been a success. Congratulations to Reaper for carrying out the mission flawlessly as always."

A few of the other members clapped in support, Reaper didn't care about recognition though. He already knew he was the best Talon agent in the organization so there was no need to kiss his ass over it. Talon was nothing before he came along. Killing was all he was and all he ever would be.

Shepard continued "Phase two will be making the video transmission to Overwatch to lure them into rescuing the girl," he stated. "As you all probably know, the public has no idea where she is and has been deemed missing. We'll be more than happy to clear that up for them won't we?" he jeered. The other members snickered and muttered amongst themselves.

Reaper just crossed his arms, "what about the demands?" he asked.

Shepard eagerly turned to him, "there is only one demand…" Reaper could tell he was smiling the way his voice grew more sinister.

"Bring us the head of Gerard Lacroix, and we will release his wife completely unharmed," he said with glee.

The other Talon members cheered and whistled. This plan was foolproof! If they complied with their demands, Gerard would be dead. If Gerard tried to rescue his wife, he'd be dead. One way or the other Talon was going to ensure that Mr. Lacroix would cease to exist by the end of this mission.

Reaper didn't cheer along with his peers, he didn't even move. He sat there dumbfounded; looking at everyone else celebrating a victory they hadn't even won yet. No, that wasn't enough for him. He wouldn't be satisfied until Gerard was crawling at his feet, until the colour drained from his face at the sight of his hellfire shotguns, until the walls were coated in his wretched blood. Then as a reward for a job well done, he would devour his soul. Only then would he be satisfied.

But there was one problem in this otherwise foolproof plan, Overwatch.

"They won't comply," Reaper spoke up. The others ceased their cheering and looked at him with confusion. Shepard leaned in "and why is that Reaper?" he asked slightly annoyed. Yet again Reaper just had to be the buzzkill in their mission meetings. Reaper didn't care; he didn't want the plan to go belly up because of an oversight.

"That's just how they are. They never comply with demands, even when it'd be convenient. They're stubborn, arrogant, and blinded by their heroic ideals. They will sacrifice anyone and anything just to look good in the public eye." Reaper sat back in his seat. "They're already falling out with the public ever since they lost Commander Morrison. There's no way they'd risk more public animosity by killing Gerard."

Shepard tapped his finger against the table, "okay then, so what are they going to do? Leave the girl with us?" he scoffed. "That's not very heroic of them now is it?" the other members chuckled at Shepard's remark.

Reaper shook his head, "no, they're going to send in a small strike team. Face full of nobodies so they don't lose anyone valuable. If they succeed, then those nobodies will become heroes overnight and decorated with medals and ribbons like they're a god damn Christmas tree. If they fail, then Overwatch loses nothing and they shove everyone involved under the rug. Even if we tell them that we're going to kill Amelie if they send anyone else but Gerard they won't listen. They'll just be stealthier, and we either lose our hostage or kill a bunch of Overwatch newbies who were brainwashed by their heroism spiel. Either way, Overwatch wins." Reaper spat venomously.

The possibility of Overwatch besting Talon made him furious. He crossed his arms and didn't pay attention to the worried whispers suffocating the room. All he was thinking about was what their next move could be; Shepard wouldn't know he greatly underestimated Overwatch. Reaper, to put mildly, did not.

"Oh my," Shepard sighed dramatically. Everyone hushed and fixated on their leader. "What ever shall we do against the big scary Overwatch? I guess we'll just have to roll over and surrender," Shepard drawled sarcastically. "It's as if I didn't have a backup plan for this carefully constructed terrorist mission… oh wait I DO!" he slammed his hand on the table.

Everyone jumped a little at the sudden reaction, everyone except Reaper. He didn't flinch for anyone or anything. Shepard groaned and placed his hand over his face.

"Geez Reaper I love you as an agent but as a person you are seriously such a downer. Have you no faith in your leader? Lighten up edgelord," Shepard teased. The others laughed at that, Reaper just rolled his eyes.

"You see Reaper," Shepard continued, "I've accounted for that possibility in Phase three of this operation. Trust me, Gerard will be dead by the end of this little game and we will be that much stronger against Overwatch twofold. You have my word," he crossed his heart and raised his hand. "That concludes today's meeting, dismissed."

Shepard turned off the projection and everyone filed out of the room. Reaper wasn't done with Shepard though. "Hey…" he growled at Shepard. "What do you mean Phase three?" he asked. "How come there's no Phase three in the mission files? How can you be so cocky about ensuring Gerard's death?" Shepard turned to face him and casually leaned against his crook.

"For someone who hates questions you sure ask a lot of them," Shepard snickered. Reaper balled up his fists but Shepard tapped him on the shoulder with his staff.

"Easy tiger, I'm just pushing your buttons," he lifted it off his shoulder

"I already told you, Phase three has it covered," he began to walk away but Reaper grabbed him by the shoulder before he could leave.

"And what is Phase three?" he insisted. Shepard casually turned his head to him,

"It's the phase that comes after one and two, silly," he brushed Reaper's hand away.

"Honestly Reaper can't you count to three?" he teased. Reaper stood there glaring at Shepard, he wasn't amused by his dumb little jokes.

"What. Is. Phase. Three?" he clipped his words.

He didn't like trusting Shepard's word alone. If phase three really did _"have it covered"_ Reaper needed to know what it was.

Shepard wasn't intimidated by Reaper however; he was used to this kind of behaviour coming from the hooded hooligan.

"Reaper I'd love to tell you, really I would it's probably my finest plan yet, buuuuuuut it's kinda sorta y'know **TOP SECRET!** " he snapped.

"Phase three is strictly confidential until phase two is complete. That's how it works, otherwise our entire plans could be revealed before they're executed. We go step by step to ensure that we get shit done and no moles or spies can stop us in the middle of our fun," he explained. "And besides… phase three is particularly more powerful if it's kept secret. The less people know, the better it will be," he chuckled darkly.

Reaper wasn't swayed. "I'm Talon's number one agent," he growled. "Nobody knows Overwatch better than me. If Overwatch can ruin this mission then 'phase three' better go through me so we know there's nothing they can do to counter it," he reasoned.

Shepard tilted his head to the side, "is that a fact?" he teased. "You're Talon's number one agent huh?"

Reaper squared his shoulders, "of course I am. You even said yourself I complete missions perfectly. So tell me the plans Shepard," he demanded. Shepard took a step closer to Reaper, meeting his heated glare with nonchalance.

"How about… no? I'm not going to tell you because you don't have clearance to know. You see it's precisely because you have roots with the enemy that I'm hesitant to let you in on our dirty little secrets Reaper." He took a step back and leaned on his crook, "and don't get too comfortable with that title, the last time you thought you were a shoe in for top dog you got your pride stamped on by a boy scout… _Reyes._ " Shepard grinned under his hood.

Reaper was fuming; his face was completely red underneath his mask. He despised being called by his real name, but even worse he despised anyone who rubbed his face in his past mistakes. He wanted to make Shepard pay for being a condescending arrogant idiot and tear him apart limb from limb.

Before he could act on his impulses, Shepard looped an arm around Reaper's shoulders. "Tell you what Reaper; I'm going to make this mission a little more interesting for you." Shepard leaned in closer to Reaper's ear. "If Gerard isn't dead by the end of this… you'll be in charge of Talon," Shepard chuckled.

Reaper slowly registered the words in his mind but they didn't make any sense. He pushed Shepard away, "What?! You're kidding!"

"No no, I'm dead serious." Shepard insisted giggling madly.

"If this plan somehow fails to kill Gerard, then you'll be in charge of Talon and I'll be your advisor. That way you can do whatever you want to Overwatch without worrying about clearance to confidential Talon plans." Shepard patted him on the back. "You'll have everything you ever wanted, but only if this plan fails. You see? That's how confident I am about this mission, I'm betting my life's work on it," he sang cheerfully. "So be a good boy until it's over okay? Trust that this plan will work, even if now you don't want it to. It will, and there's nothing that Overwatch or even you can do to interfere with Phase three."

Now this… this deeply shocked Reaper. It wasn't easy to get under his skin and bring up any other emotion other than anger or annoyance, but what Shepard was proposing was nothing he could have prepared for. Being in charge of Talon was a far off goal, he knew he'd accomplish it someday but was content as being an agent until that time came. Not only to have complete control over destroying Overwatch, but to throw Shepard off his throne since he was a cocky idiot. Yet Reaper didn't think that it'd be this easy to get a shot at taking over. With Shepard constantly mocking him for both his past and his attitude he thought he'd have to assassinate him when the time was right. He didn't think the idiot would just give it to him. That's what was bugging him; this entire proposition was far too suspicious.

"Why are you offering me this?" he asked. Shepard's smile faded, "Reaper could you drop the downer act for five seconds? I'm giving you a chance at ultimate power over a terrorist organization, how about a little 'thanks Shepard I appreciate the offer'?" Reaper glared at him, still waiting for his answer. Shepard sighed, "Reaper we have been trying to kill this man for months. I have pulled out all the stops on this mission to ensure there is no way he'll survive. I am so confident that there is nothing in the world that can possibly ruin this plan."

"And why is that?" Reaper interrupted. Shepard paused for a moment and then gave a small laugh. "Oh… you'll see," and then he began to laugh some more. The more he thought about the plan the more he couldn't help but cackle in excitement. He was laughing so hard he was holding his sides and tears were landing on the ground. The depraved sound would make any normal person back away in fear, but Reaper only watched.

Then Shepard finally calmed down from his hysterical laughter and turned on his heels. "I'm telling you Reaper, Gerard is a dead man walking. You have my word, _number one agent_ " he snickered as he left the room.

 _AN: So yes there's an OC in this fic but only because Reaper needs a boss. Thank you all so much for the support and kind words in the reviews, it's helped me so much in getting motivation to give you guys a good Reaper/Widow fic. It's surprising that there aren't many but c'est la vie, shippers gonna ship. If you could I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think. Even if you hated it, I'm always open for constructive criticism :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope I'll see you in the next chapter! XD_


	4. A Deal with the Devil

_AN: Sorry this took a little longer, I've been semi-busy with university. Anyway I hope you enjoy this longer chapter. I had a lot of fun with it. Cheers! :)_

It was his certainty that set him on edge. That unapologetic maniacal laughter was enough to make any sane man leave Talon for good. Of course Reaper wasn't exactly sane, but he wasn't stupid either. There was something about this Phase three that didn't sit right with him.

That's why he found himself printing the entire file of Gerard Lacroix off the Talon database. There had to be some weakness he was missing, something that Shepard planned to exploit. Once the papers were nestled in his hands he tucked them into his jacket pocket and disintegrated into smoke. He didn't want anyone seeing him leave the archive room.

"I'll find your weakness Gerard," he muttered to himself, "and when I do, I'll watch the life fade from your eyes and kill you myself."

If he could curb Shepard's plans entirely then Talon would have no choice but to give him ultimate control over the organization. Then with everyone under his thumb they could destroy Overwatch once and for all. It was so easy, all Reaper needed was a little enemy research.

He materialized in the dark corner of the hallway and gingerly took out the papers. Written in black and white was every minute detail of this pathetic man's life. Reaper soaked in every word, anything to try and beat Shepard to the punch.

As he was reading there came a faint sound from just down the hall. It was barely noticeable at first, but soon it couldn't be ignored. Reaper lifted his head up in annoyance being torn away from his valuable research. He couldn't quite make out what it was exactly, but he was sensitive to sound so it was slowly getting on his nerves. He got up from his spot and began following the sound.

"Whoever it is needs to shut up," he growled.

As he got closer to the sound he realized it was someone singing. Not just someone singing… but someone _really_ good at singing. The closer he got the more he couldn't turn away, it was irresistible to his ears. His annoyance melted into desperate curiosity, where was this singing coming from? It was sweet, soothing, and strangely innocent. Not the kind of voice a typical Talon agent would have.

The heavenly melody finally led him to none other than _her_.

There she was, Amelie Lacroix singing a sweet lullaby in her room. Her voice was breathtaking; Reaper stared in complete awe at the angelic French flowing from her lips. Staring at her through the one way window, he listened intently to her captivating voice. He subconsciously placed his hand on the window, as if to reach out to her.

She was leaning against the wall and tracing the contours of the steel paneling with her finger. Effortlessly the words came to her, as this song was one she had known all her life.

 _Je t'aime, je t'aime toujours_

 _I am forever yours._

 _Sweet dreams, sweet dreams mon cher_

 _You're always in my prayers._

She's obviously singing about Gerard, he thought, even though the bastard didn't deserve it.

 _Softly, sweetly,_

 _wrapped up in heavens arms._

 _Sailing, soaring,_

 _over the moon_

 _gathering stardust_

She looked up and saw a spider making a web on the ceiling. However instead of recoiling away from it she outstretched her hand towards it.

 _Be still, be safe, be sure_

 _je t'aime, je t'aime toujours._

The spider gently descended down from its web as she continued singing. She wasn't scared of it; in fact it looked like she was hypnotizing it from Reaper's perspective. She watched it approach her cautiously, but she wasn't going to hurt it. She just wanted a friend. To reach out to anyone that would hear her, even if it was an insignificant spider. Ever since she was kidnapped she had felt so alone and scared, yet this spider gave her a strange sense of comfort.

 _Wishing, praying,_

 _all of your dreams come true._

 _Please remember_

 _where you are, my heart is with you_

As he listened he felt the weight of her voice from the song itself. The tragedy of her life slowly sunk in, and he couldn't help but feel angry for her yet again. She had been caged her whole life, trapped by the whims of her pathetic husband and Overwatch. She was a beautiful and talented woman, yet here she was locked up in a room with no one but a spider to hear her sing.

 _Sweet dreams, sweet dreams mon cher_

 _Always in my prayers._

 _I am forever yours,_

 _je t'aime, je t'aime toujours._

The silky texture of her voice was pure and professional, she was in perfect pitch! Yet, Reaper was the only one listening to this talent? Him?! Why the hell was she even singing?! His anger intensified as he ripped his hand away from the window. This was unbearable to watch. He marched over and placed his hand on the door scanner.

The door opened and he stormed in, his heated glare meeting her eyes. She stopped singing and jumped back in surprise.

"Mon dieu! What is your problem? You nearly scared me to death!" Reaper completely ignored her complaining and went right for the throat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded.

His voice erupted, heated and overflowing like lava. Amelie surprisingly stood her ground "Quoi?" she placed her hands on her hips.

"I am just passing the time. It is boring in here, I am sorry if my singing made you angry but what else am I supposed to do?!" she snapped.

"You have an amazing voice!" he spat it as if it was an insult. Amelie was confused by the compliment. The way he said it made her wonder if she translated his English wrong in her head.

"Uh… Merci?" she tilted her head.

Reaper shoved her away in disgust; she let out a small yelp of surprise and was flung a few steps backwards. The intensity of his stare didn't fade away.

"I don't get it" he growled, "How the hell can you be so happy with your life?" The question made her raise her head and her eyes met his cold unforgiving glare. It was as if he was a disappointed father looking down on her.

Reaper wasn't done with her though; this rant had been a long time coming. The words had been burning in his skull since the day he met her, and he couldn't hold back the fire.

"What I heard just now was beautiful. You have a talent; singers today can't capture the heart and soul it takes to sing with such passion. I rarely ever listen to singers today anymore because they're all the same, dull and lifeless because they're doing it for a fucking paycheck. But you? You just gave the performance of a lifetime when you thought no one was watching. It would be so easy for you to become a famous singer! You could have your own life and make a legacy for yourself. You could be on a stage right now, singing your heart out to millions of people like you did to a reckless killer and a god damn spider!" he slammed his fist against the wall.

"But no… instead you're trapped here in this shitty cell room because your precious Gerard took all that away from you and doesn't give a shit about you. Wake up Amelie! You could have more in this life than you realize! Don't you want that?! Why aren't you even trying to save yourself?! Why are you just content with being Gerard's perfect little housewife?!"

His fists were clenched tightly as if he wanted to strangle the man in the room right then and there. That was impossible though, Gerard wasn't here which left Reaper with no option to expunge the anger that was balled up inside him. He just stood there, eyes fixed to the ground, vividly imagining squeezing the life out of a man he'd never even met with his bare hands.

"You are wrong monsieur…" she spoke softly, "I am not content."

Those words, as soft as they were, pulled Reaper out of his blood coated head space. He stared at her in shock.

"What?!" he snapped. "Why are you so loyal to him then? Why don't you leave him? Why were you just singing a love song about him?" the questions poured out of his mouth like an unending river. Amelie held her arm, unable to look Reaper in the eye.

"It is because I do love him, I always will," tears began forming in her eyes. "There is nothing in this world that makes me happier when he is with me, I would not trade him for anything in the world. You see, it is when he isn't here…" she trembled and turned away.

Reaper kept staring at her still and he was transported back to that night. Her body bathed in moonlight, trying to hold onto the pieces of her heart as she spent another night alone without him.

"It is when he is not here… that I am not content monsieur," her voice was frail, weak and on the edge of spiralling into despair.

This was, and would forever be, Amelie Lacroix.

It was clear she was trying not to cry, but her weakness made Reaper want to reach out to her. He couldn't stand how the actions of Overwatch were torturing this beautiful, innocent woman. Not to mention it was Gerard's fault as well, it was an injustice he couldn't stand to watch.

"But he isn't there for you," he stated, "he's married to Overwatch, not to you."

Amelie let out a small gasp of air and trembled even more, Reaper couldn't see her face but he already knew she was crying. He didn't care; he needed to talk some sense into her even if it hurt.

"You may love him, but does he support you? Is he even worth your time? You can't be this stupid Amelie! Why can't you see that he's not good enough for you?"

SLAP.

The pain shot across Reaper's face like a bullet and he was momentarily dazed. Amelie's glare was a mix of pain and anger; tears were still streaming down her face as pure hatred twisted her face into a scowl. She just stared at him in silence as he began to process what just happened to him. Finally she spoke, venom coating her tongue with every syllable.

"You do not know anything about him! You don't know how good he is! You are just a mindless thug in a stupid costume! Get out!" she pointed at the door.

Reaper did not leave though; there was no way he was going to be ordered around by his captive.

"Mindless thug huh?" he took a step closer to her making her step back. "I don't know anything huh?" he took another step. "I'm gonna make you regret those words," he had backed her into the corner of the room and he wasn't moving.

"Oui," she turned her head away from him in defiance, "and you are a traitor of Overwatch."

Reaper's mind went blank. All he could see was pure red, those words strung together wrapped around his throat like a noose. His hands acted by themselves as he grabbed her shoulders tightly, making her gasp in shock. "What are you doing?! Let go of moi!" she squirmed. He looked her right in the eyes and was inches away from her face. That same look of a predator ready to kill was plain as day. It made her stop moving, frozen in place like a statue.

"If you ever say that again I will murder you on the spot. You got that?" his voice was restrained, as if it took everything in his power not to beat her senseless. Amelie sensed the feral warning in his voice, and swallowed a lump in her throat.

"Oui… very well then," she agreed shakily.

He glared at her for a moment more and the proximity between the two made something catch Amelie's eye.

The file in Reaper's jacket, labelled with a name she knew very well.

Without thinking she pulled out the file from his coat pocket and pushed him away from her. He didn't realize what she had in her hand until she had taken a few steps away from him and presented it in front of his face.

"Why do you have this!?" she demanded. "What are you going to do to my husband?! Is this all because you hate him? Are you trying to destroy him through me?!" she dropped the file on the floor outraged. "I see exactly what you are now you monster!" she crossed her arms in a huff.

Reaper grabbed the file off the floor and groaned, "no you don't you're jumping to conclusions." He stuffed the file in his pocket, "I'm trying to do research on Gerard because Talon is planning to kill him with a secret plan."

"Mon dieu!" she gasped covering her mouth. "Yeah yeah, how sad," Reaper rolled his eyes.

"But if I can somehow stop their plans then I become in charge of the entire organization."

Amelie uncovered her mouth and looked between the file and Reaper. "So… you are trying to save him?" she asked.

Reaper didn't think of it like that, Gerard was still an issue but he didn't have to necessarily die from Shepard's plan. Reaper figured he'd kill Gerard later once he won this bet. Of course if Amelie was willing to cooperate with him maybe he could get even more information out of her.

So he told a white lie "yeah, I'm trying to save him," he nodded.

Amelie gasped "you are?! But you hate him!"

"Yeah I do, I really really do because he's an asshole who mistreats his beautiful wife, a brainwashed Overwatch agent, and overall a pretty shitty guy. I'm surprised you can't see that."

Amelie paced around in circles, "I am very confused, are you saying you are a good guy or a bad guy?" she rubbed her temples. Reaper chuckled at the question, "depends who you ask."

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, "but if you help me try to stop Talon then technically I will be saving Gerard's life… technically," he grumbled. Amelie stopped pacing and glared angrily at him, "and why should I help you? You are a monster; you do not care about anyone or anything."

Reaper chuckled sinisterly "thank you for the compliment. As to why you should help me, I'm the only chance your precious husband has of surviving Phase three."

"What is Phase three?"

"I don't know," Reaper grumbled, "but it's supposed to be really powerful. I'm guessing they're going to exploit Gerard's greatest weaknesses. I assumed it was you but now I'm not so sure." He scratched his head. "We've already kidnapped you and he doesn't seem all that fazed by it. He's just begging to the cameras for you to come back to him."

"No he is worried," she interrupted. "Gerard does not like to express himself unprofessionally on camera. If he was begging for me to come back to him that means he's very worried," Amelie began pacing again.

"He should have thought about that before leaving you for dead," Reaper reminded her.

"Do not blame this on him; he was just doing his job,"

"That's not what you said on New Year's Eve," Reaper blurted out.

The moment he said it he instantly regretted it, the realization dawned on Amelie's face and she stormed up to him.

"So it was you!? You kidnapped moi?!" she punched him multiple times in the stomach; none of her punches were strong enough to be painful though. Reaper just took the hits until she got tired, which happened very quickly. "You done?" he sighed.

"You are a monster and I hate you" she turned away from him.

"Yeah I got that, so are you going to cooperate or not?" Reaper asked.

Amelie didn't respond and was still not facing him. Reaper sighed and walked over to face her, "yes it was me that kidnapped you," he admitted.

"I'm a Talon agent that was my mission… but what I heard that night is why I'm trying to make you realize you're on the wrong side here. Overwatch has ruined your life Amelie, and I am trying to destroy Overwatch for what it did to me. You won't get any more detail than that, but we are both victims of that wretched organization. You are just too stubborn to admit it. If you do help me I'll be able to destroy Overwatch, and in turn you'll get more time to spend with your shitty husband. Does that sound good to you?" he reasoned.

Amelie's face softened, "so I help you and you help moi?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not doing this for you or him you got that? I'm doing this for me and the destruction of Overwatch."

"Oui I know," she brushed it off. "But maybe you will change? Who knows maybe saving others is more your strength than the killing?" she raised her eyebrow.

Reaper turned his head away from her, "I am a shadow of death, wherever I go death follows. I am far better at killing than I am at saving lives." He turned his head back to her, "that's probably why Overwatch hired me in the first place," he smirked.

Amelie's eyes lit up, "so you were an agent," she smiled triumphantly.

Reaper flinched, "wait didn't you know that already?"

"Au contraire, I asked you but you did not respond. I simply suspected it but I have not received any confirmation until now. Coming from the horse's mouth as you would say no?" she winked.

Reaper didn't like her prying into his past, hell he didn't like anybody prying into his past. He stood his ground, "I wouldn't dig any further if I were you. I was close enough to killing you today already, don't make me regret my mercy," he warned.

Amelie scoffed, "oh but of course, you can dig into my personal life all you want but I cannot dig into yours. Totally fair and equal, merci beaucoup hypocrite," she drawled.

Reaper glared at her, "call me whatever you want, but my warning remains Amelie," at this she perked up. "Anything? How about I call you noire d'edge?" she teased. Reaper didn't laugh.

"Oh well I must call you something if we are going to be working together. What about-"

"My name is Reaper," he opened the file on the bed. "But, that is not your real name," she insisted.

"Yes it is," his voice was sharp as a knife.

"Who I was before is dead now, Reaper is all that remains. You'd do well to remember that Lacroix."

 _~ Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I'd really appreciate your guys' thoughts so if you could please leave a review and tell me what you think so far. Also have a lovely day and I hope you guys stick around for more :D_


	5. Jack

Amelie was a puzzle that didn't want to be solved. Reaper could see all the pieces of her plain as day but she denied him the chance to touch a single one. It was the second day he had tried questioning her about her knowledge of Gerard, and it was quickly proving to be another waste of time as she only got more annoyed and defensive. Yes he had a heavy bias towards the man but the truth was the truth and that was all he was after.

Eventually she had just ripped the file from his hands again and decided to go through the information he had already. She flipped through the papers in Gerard's file over and over again, re-reading the words a hundred times over.

Reaper had just been observing her, noting even more features that he hadn't seen before. Every now and then Reaper's eyes would wander around her body. She was still wearing the dress from the New Year's Eve party and it certainly drew his attention more times than he dared to admit. She twirled her long hair around her finger as she got to the end of the file for the umpteenth time. Her gaze still didn't leave the papers but it was clear that she wasn't reading them anymore.

"Well?" he asked, tired of waiting for her to say something.

Amelie swallowed a lump in her throat, "it is _very_ detailed. How did Talon come by this information?" she asked quietly.

Reaper raised his eyebrows, "are you saying it's accurate?" he asked.

Amelie was silent, which was the answer he needed.

"Everything?! You mean even the Dubai missions? The tank conspiracy in Qatar? The underground Omnic settlements in England?!"

"Non, not all of it," she pinched the bridge of her nose. "There are many rumours against mon Gerard but many of this is supposed to be confidential. How did Talon acquire these documents?" she asked the question as calmly as possible but Reaper could see the subtle flicker of hatred in her eyes.

Reaper raised his hands, "don't look at me like that. I'm not the only Talon agent you know," that wasn't good enough.

"Non, but surely you knew about some of this before you… _switched sides_ ," the words sizzled on her tongue. "Do you expect moi to believe that Talon knew all of this without any of your help? That they let you join without selling out your past?" she jabbed her finger into his chest.

He pushed her hand aside, "fine yes I provided Talon with my knowledge of Overwatch, happy now? That doesn't mean I knew everything. I was only a member in the golden age, when I was young and stupid just like your husband." Reaper quickly realized that he revealed more information about his past and mentally slapped himself.

Amelie quickly caught on, "The golden?"

"Forget it, it's not important," he cut her off. "We have more pressing matters to discuss other than my 'tragic backstory'," he air quoted. "Don't bother trying to figure me out Lacroix you're wasting your time. There's nothing that will change my mind about Overwatch. I'm a Talon agent, end of story." His casual dismissal made her glare at him; the fire in her eyes was amusing to say the least.

"But you are not even that are you?" she snapped. "You used to be with Overwatch, I know you were, how are you okay with Talon having this much information? These people looked after you, protected you and treated you like family!" again she repeatedly jabbed her finger into his chest. "Do you not feel any remorse or guilt? Do you not feel anything?!" she demanded.

Reaper swiftly pushed her away from him. "Shut up, you're making a fool of yourself. You don't know what happened," "Then tell me!" Her anger came at full force now.

"How could someone just abandon the ones they loved so carelessly? Do you not feel anything anymore? I do not understand," hot tears began forming in her eyes.

"How could you betray them?!" she cried.

The words echoed in his mind. Reaper felt that same noose tie around his neck; made from the flesh and bone of the man he called his friend. He saw it all crumbling down around him, the smoke, the metal, the fire, and the sirens blaring in his ears. Swiss crosses painted on the walls like tombstones surrounding his vision.

His throat was dry and his eyes stung from the smoke. He tried calling out for him, the name still stuck on his lips. Guns wrapped around his fingers like hands to hold leading him blindly through the building. He heard his name, screamed from the top of his lungs.

"Gabe!" He followed, but he wasn't sure why.

"Jack!" he cried out but his voice was ragged. There was too much fire; they were running out of time. He felt like he was running forever, running from the world burning to ashes around them. Where was he? He had to find him.

Then suddenly a familiar flash of blue came from behind him. Hands he used to shake now strangled his throat. He couldn't breathe! He feebly grasped at the arms but he was pinned to the ground. The fire above surrounded his blonde hair like a halo, his visor eye was cracked, his commander coat singed from the fire.

The roof structure was steadily being eaten away from the flames. The devil he knew was now killing him, the face of Overwatch corrupted beyond repair. He was crying, he remembered, Jack was crying.

"How could you betray them?!" his words sunk into his chest like a knife.

Gabe felt the grip loosen so he could speak, but not a word came out.

"Gabe for God's sake, give me a reason to let you live… please I'm begging you," Jack was shivering even though their whole world was on fire.

The hands didn't let go, they would never let go. From above came an audible crack, the roof beams were bending.

"Answer me Gabe!" Jack screamed as the roof collapsed.

The debris fell in slow motion as everything burned to the ground. He remembered Jack's hands still gripped around his neck, he never wanted to let him go. Gabe was suffocating, fast; under the iron clad grip of the devil he called his friend. He couldn't stand to see his face anymore.

So the very last thing he did, he struggled to find something to cover it. What he grabbed was a scalding hot piece of metal debris and he didn't hesitate. Red flooded his vision, flames scorched his body, and the pain awakened him.

"Let me go!" he pressed the metal to Jack's face as he heard the skin underneath sizzle and pop. The screams he had heard in his life were incomparable to the bloodcurdling horror that entered his ears… and then heard music, singing to be precise.

It was strangely familiar, gentle, and almost angelic. He could only understand some of the words, the rest were hazy and different.

 _"Je t'aime, je t'aime toujour_

 _I am forever yours_

 _Sweet dreams, sweet dreams mon cher_

 _You're always in my prayer"_

He felt his forehead being rubbed by something cool. He opened his eyes and was greeted to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Was she an angel?

 _"Be still, be safe, be sure_

 _Je t'aime, je t'aime toujour"_

The world melted like butter. It wasn't red; it was steel. Upon waking up she appeared concerned and quiet. Then it clicked, he instantly knew from all from those features he memorized like clockwork. Her eyes, her hair, her lips, even her fingers.

It was Amelie.

The rest of his senses came back to him slowly, like waking up from a hangover. "Reaper?" she asked. Reaper. That was his name now. "Fuck…" he uttered.

His memories were crashing in on each other again, the past intertwined with the present. He needed them separate, he tried so hard to keep them separate.

He wasn't Gabriel anymore; he was "Reaper?" Amelie asked again.

He was lying on the bed; the cool thing on his forehead was a wet cloth. He went to pull it off his head and was relieved his mask was still on. Holding it up to his face he could now see it was a piece of Amelie's dress soaked in freezing tap water.

His eyes trailed to the rip along her thigh and she looked away with a slight blush, "you were burning up," she muttered, "I 'ad to do something."

He set the fabric aside, "you were… singing," his voice croaked.

His voice always got fucked whenever he had one of his attacks. Amelie brushed a strand of her hair to the side, "oui… I 'ave seen this before," she looked him in the eyes, "Gerard has suffered trauma too."

Trauma… the word stung. It felt too simple to capture the full meaning behind it.

"He used to scream too, la nuit. He never told me what he saw, he 'as only told his therapist." Amelie bit her lip, "but to calm him down I would sing to him and that seemed to work so…" she trailed off.

Reaper couldn't believe it. She sang to him to get him out of his own head, him?! The monster that was keeping her locked away from her life? "Why?" he asked, the question holding more weight than the word.

Amelie stared down at her hands, "you were in pain, it was the first time I 'ave seen you as a… _human_." Human? No he wasn't that, not anymore.

"What did I do?" he asked. She slowly twiddled her thumbs, "you tried to kill me and then began choking yourself while screaming."

He flinched slightly. He nearly killed her and somehow she knew it wasn't his fault.

"How did you know-"

"You screamed his name," she interrupted, slowly turning to look him in the eyes again.

" _Jack_."

A million profanities flooded his brain as he mentally slapped himself again. He had to get out of here. He immediately got up from the bed and headed for the door.

"That will be all for today Lacroix… no more questions," he grumbled.

As he began to leave Amelie darted up and ran towards him. He expected her to punch him, kick him or chew him out for nearly killing her over nothing. He braced himself for her worst but she didn't do any of those things. Instead she hugged him from behind, her arms wrapped around his waist like a belt.

He was frozen in shock; confused, bewildered, any other word couldn't come close to what he was feeling. This woman hated his guts; he had nearly killed her because he had lost his senses. Why was she hugging him?! They stood like that for a moment, the silence sobering under the glow of fluorescent lights.

Then she spoke, "Je suis désolé… do not leave me alone." The words wove through his ears like silk, irresistible to deny.

He turned around, "I could've killed you and you want me to stay?" he asked in disbelief. She didn't respond with words but with her eyes, warm, inviting, and captivating as the sun. Reaper was blinded by her stare.

She held onto his arm, "I do not want to be alone the whole day again… it is not good for moi," she admitted. "So I 'ave decided that I prefer your company over nothing. Will you stay?" Reaper knew he couldn't stay; it would be suspicious, dangerous, ridiculous, why would he even consider it?

"Fine," he said, "under one condition." He pulled out his holoPod from his pocket. "Can I record you singing that song?" he asked avoiding her gaze.

She looked surprised at the request, "really?"

He swallowed the lump in his throat, "yeah… really."

 _Hey! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There is way more to come so buckle up, I'm hoping to finish this by at the very latest the end of summer. Thank you so much for reading and if you have any feedback feel free to leave a review. You guys are so supportive and I'm so excited that you are loving this story! Thanks again!_


	6. Down the rabbit hole

He found twisted satisfaction in cleansing the world of its filth. They hid behind the shadows of figureheads, cowards deciding the fate of the world. As if they had a clue what was going on during the crisis. Puppeteers controlling soldiers and playing upon their ideals like children. To them, people weren't people in their eyes, they were tools.

He was the leader of Blackwatch; he never saw his soldiers as mere tools, he saw them as what they were… potential. Lost souls looking for a goal in life, he gave them that second chance to become greater than just their combat skills. He taught them patience, cunning, strategy, skepticism, and perseverance but it still wasn't enough. Their talents were reduced to covering up scandals, extortion and assassination. It was all for the benefit of Overwatch, the price of progress they said.

They took his students, his colleagues, and his best friend... and turned them all into soulless busybodies of war.

Overwatch didn't see it that way. They broke bread with the enemy behind closed doors. They reasoned that it was fine to support some evils over others. The enemy of their enemy as the saying went. It was _necessary to keep the peace._

Idiots, there was no such thing as peace.

Snuffing out their blinding light, he sought justice through bloodshed. Massacring corporations, uprooting duplicity like weeds, deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole he went. He wouldn't rest until every shred of evil had perished by his hand. Unfortunately, that time spent staring into the abyss drove him into utter madness.

It was only natural that he grew attached to the darkness, it became his salvation.

Each person turned prey as he fed off their cries of agony. It became harder to tell them apart when they all sounded same. They called him a monster, a freak, a demon, and death itself. He was the embodiment of fear; terrifying any threat or enemy that dared to cross him. He embraced his new world view and donned the villain as a mask to hide away his heart. Though it was painted black it still bled for the world.

This was why he had refused to look himself in the mirror.

 _"Reaper I was wondering,"_

And when she asked him that question,

 _"What colour are your eyes?"_

He couldn't even remember.

He opened his eyes, the full moon shone like a spotlight as the stars dotted the sky. Dark swells of clouds drifted lazily around the rooftop, providing some cover for the troubled mercenary. Ironically Reaper came to this clouded rooftop to clear his head, and boy did he need to. After the events of the day, he wasn't sure just what the hell he was doing anymore.

His stream of thoughts ebbed and flowed with honeyed daydreams and poisoned desires. It was a concoction that drove him utterly mad, and yet he couldn't drain it from his mind. He held his holoPod in his hand, her voice flowing to his ears like nectar. The sky holding no other light than the moon his gaze was fixed upon it, and yet he could only see her.

As promised he had spent the day with her and snippets of their time together kept repeating in his head. After his attack she had unveiled a softer side of her personality; she was now gentle and sweet towards him. This development had proven to be both paradoxically intriguing and terrifying at the same time.

He felt the midnight air seep through his skin as he listened to her singing. He'd lost count of how many times he had repeated the song, but it was addictive in a way he couldn't describe. Hearing it made him forget his troubles if only for a moment. Instead of the never-ending cynicism that plagued his mind, the song caressed and tamed his unruly thoughts to a dull roar.

In their place, all he could think about was her forgiveness. He could still feel her slender arms wrapping around his waist like a delicate ribbon. At the time, the gesture had filled him with warmth and humility, neither of which he could say he had felt in a long time. It was… strangely peaceful. The problem however was he didn't know why he was feeling this way. Was it just because she was kind to him? That seemed too simple to be the answer. Perhaps he had let his guard down from revisiting his dreadful past?

He buried his face in his hand, the familiar comfort of the bone mask calming his nerves.

This was stupid.

Why was he getting so worked up over her? None of it would matter after the mission was over anyhow, so why was he even bothering? He forced himself to stare at the midnight sun, beating upon him with empty light, silver and cold like her cell.

She was trapped because of him. She was merely a cog in a bigger machine to take down her husband and topple Overwatch. They had both been dealt their roles in Talon's sick little game. For now she was his prisoner, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

Then there was his role as Reaper, the top agent of terrorist organization Talon. A professional mercenary and assassin with a body count that would make a serial killer blush. There was nothing inside him other than the burning desire for revenge and general blood lust. That was all he was and all he would ever be.

How she could ever see such humanity where he thought none existed? No, he _knew_ none existed, to think otherwise was stupid. What he was now was a shadow of a man harboring the soul of a beast.

She was just delusional, and fittingly so since she married Gerard. What could she ever understand about him? She was insane, and his feelings were just a side effect of prolonged exposure to her backwards logic... yes that had to be the answer.

He pulled out the ear buds and placed the holoPod back in his pocket. He needed to rest, to forget everything that happened between them. It was distracting him, and he couldn't afford to be mixed up in her nonsense.

Suddenly, he heard a strange noise. It was similar to that of a ticking clock, but it sounded synthetic. His eyes darted around the rooftop to find the source, but the clouds in the sky had blotted out the moon. With little to no light, the mercenary cursed under his breath and went into wraith form, cautious of the possibility of a bomb.

It was virtually impossible to find Talon's base, they had built it on an island that they erased all digital records of. There was an invisibility barrier around the entire base 24/7, along with shields just to be safe. There was no way an outside source could find them, let alone get near the roof. Yet that ticking sound was unmistakable and Reaper wasn't going to take any chances.

A purple streak of light cut through his vision, only lasting mere seconds. Then he could hear the sound of footsteps and more synthetic beeping. He reformed behind a metal vent, his shotguns at the ready as he peeked around to inspect the source.

To his surprise it was a woman in a purple jacket, her hair was flipped to one side as the other was shaved and had purple neon lights pulsating from her half bald head.

It was a strange sight, but that was all he could gauge since she was facing away from him. He saw that the beeping noises were coming from her purple holoHUD with hexagonal buttons. Her fingers flew across the buttons quickly in a deliberate manner, almost as if she was typing out a story she knew by heart. Suddenly, the door on the rooftop had automatically unlocked and she dismissed the HUD with a wave of her hand.

"Now…" she muttered, "dónde está esa bóveda?"

Reaper could tell she was Spanish since he partially knew the language himself. However he was puzzled by what she had said, _"A vault?"_ he thought _"What is she talking about?"_

Before he had time to think she had suddenly vanished into thin air. Poof, just like that the intruder had disappeared. He growled in annoyance and stormed through the door she had just opened. He could hear her footsteps still, but this time he could tell she was running.

It looked like he was in for a night of cat and mouse. He transformed into the hellish void of smoke and flew after her, silent and dark as the night. He wasn't sure if she had figured out she was being chased, but either way it didn't matter. He always caught his prey.

Finally the footsteps had stopped; he turned back into human form and stalked through the hallways searching for her. He had no idea who she was or what she was up to, but as long as he was in service of Talon, she was crossing his territory. That was something Reaper could not stand for, and he intended to punish her with death. He heard beeping once again, like a bloodhound he pinpointed exactly where the noise was coming from.

"Records huh?" he muttered as he headed for the room.

He poked his head around the corner of the hallway and sure enough she was facing the door punching in buttons on her holoHUD. The door opened almost immediately and she smiled to herself, "open sesame," she chuckled.

Reaper transformed into wraith form and went through the doors right before they closed. She hadn't noticed that a cloud of smoke had followed in behind her. She also hadn't noticed that the cloud of smoke formed into a human clad in black and wearing a bone mask. What she did notice however, was the feeling of a gun barrel pressed against her back.

"Welcome to Talon, I see you've shown yourself in."

He could see her tense at his deep growling voice, one of the perks of having his vocal chords horrifically mangled he supposed. Surprisingly the woman didn't scream in terror from the gun pressed to her back or the scary voice wielding it. Instead she raised her hands in the air and slowly turned around to look her captor in the eye.

Looking at her more closely Reaper could see she was definitely of Spanish descent, and the second she saw him she raised her scarred eyebrows.

"Whoa… and I can see you don't have a calendar. Last I checked today isn't Halloween," she smirked at her own joke.

Reaper just stared at her in annoyance, "I'm not in the mood for jokes," he growled.

"Yeah I can see that," she rolled her eyes. "I don't think you're in the mood for jokes – ever."

She tilted her head to inspect him more closely, "actually, it's pretty odd that you don't wear the standard Talon uniform. What gives? You want to be some special snowflake or something?" she teased.

Reaper didn't grace her question with an answer; instead he brought his shotgun closer to her face. That got her to shut up and raise her hands higher in defense.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" he asked.

The woman gulped and let out a nervous chuckle, "Ah okay, let me level with you… Mr. Skull Face?" she guessed.

Reaper growled in response, "Answer the questions," he ordered.

"Fiiiiiiine," she sighed dramatically, "but I'll find out who you are later."

"I doubt that," he countered.

His dismissal didn't faze her and she waved her hand as if it was elementary to dig up his long buried past.

"Yeah yeah, anyway I can't really tell you since neither of those questions have an actual answer. I don't exist and I don't work for anyone, lo entiendes?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes, "Do I understand? No… I'm pretty sure that's bullshit you made up." He moved closer forcing her to back up into the bookshelves; she banged her head against a binder and winced.

"Ow, what'd you do that for?!" she rubbed her head.

"Now I'll ask again and – _because I'm nice_ – let you have a second chance to save your life." He pressed the shotgun right on her forehead,

"Who. Are. You?" ice cracked in his voice.

The woman's violet eyes flashed in fear, Reaper could see the cogs in her mind clicking and whirring like an omnic. She reminded him too much of an omnic, he couldn't put his finger on why but it bothered him.

She bit her lip and lowered her head, "fine I'll tell you," she said in a defeated tone. Silence filled the room as Reaper waited in anticipation; she lifted her head once again and smiled.

"But not yet."

A purple streak of light flashed in front of his eyes and she was gone. He turned around wildly and she had teleported away from him, holding two purple SMGs.

He fired at her but she dodged his shots with incredible skill and fired back. A hail of bullets hurdled towards him like rain, but he took them like a champ. After years of warfare, bullets felt more like pesky mosquitoes to him. Plus the fact that his cells regenerated and degenerated constantly numbed the pain of metal piercing his skin.

The woman pulled up her HUD once again and quickly punched in buttons as she was heading for the other side of the room. It almost looked as if she was going to run right into the wall. Reaper ran after her as he fired his shotguns. She tried desperately to dodge them all, running as fast as she could while pushing buttons in front of her face. She ducked around bookshelves and printers, knocking over stacks of papers as a distraction. Reaper barreled through the white barrage, shotgun shells piercing through the thin sheets like Swiss cheese.

As impressive as her fancy maneuvers were, her luck ran out once she was shot in the back of the shoulder. Reaper knew she was no match for him; it was only a matter of time. Falling down she cried out in agony, but still determined, she feebly crawled towards the wall as if it would save her from death.

It wouldn't, and Reaper slowed down his pace to make her suffer a little more before he finished her off. She was tricky this one, but her life would end just as many others had… by his hand. She grunted as she continued to type in her HUD.

"Tengo que hacer todo yo mismo?!" she snapped, her accent grinding her words. A faint clicking was heard, and then creaking metal. Reaper stopped, wondering if she had called in backup and readied himself for more. She forced herself to stand up and cradled her shoulder.

"Hey dumbass," she spat "you're looking in the wrong direction."

He was getting tired of this annoying Spanish hacker and decided to shoot her brains out before anyone else interrupted him. However instead of killing her as planned, he turned around and was frozen in shock at the sight before him. The seasoned mercenary working at the terrorist base for years, knowing every nook and cranny the building had to offer, stared in awe at the metal wall behind her… opening like a vault.

She glared at him as the gears clicked and turned behind her, the circular door moving to the side revealing nothing but empty darkness.

"Come with me," she extended her hand, "and I'll show you how deep this rabbit hole goes."

* * *

 _Thank you for waiting patiently for this next chapter. Now that school is over I'll be able to write chapters more frequently so keep your eyes peeled for them. If you have any thoughts don't be afraid to write them up in the reviews. Thank you all so much for the positive feedback, I'm so happy you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am :)_


	7. Through the Looking Glass

With those few words, everything had changed. What once was prey now held all the power in the room. Her violet eyes became colder as she stared into his soul. The darkness she had revealed created a sickening purple glow around her body, the aura of digital light turning her into an ethereal gatekeeper to another world. A demonic ghost stood between him and the unknown. With those words it was clear who held all the cards.

Yet Reaper wasn't angry at the fact that she had switched the power dynamic between them… well actually he was, but there was something far more pressing that enraged him about this woman.

The simple fact that she knew more than he did.

Reaper gripped his shotguns tighter; his bloodlust resurfacing as the shock dissipated.

"How the hell did you know about this?!" he spat, pointing to the vault behind her. She didn't turn to look around; she just smirked at his reaction.

"Pretty impressive huh?" she bragged. "I had a feeling you didn't know about it. You weren't trying to defend it at all once I showed up. You were too busy trying to kill me. Eh, then again I shouldn't expect a Talon lackey to know any better."

Her nonchalance at knowing more than him was aggravating. He pointed his shotgun at her once again making her flinch. "You'd better choose your next words carefully thief, because I've run out of patience and the only reason you're still alive is because of that door. So make yourself useful, or die. It's your choice."

Fear flashed in her eyes for a brief moment but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared. In its place came condescension and disgust.

"You are… such an idiot," she let out a pitiful laugh.

"You have no idea what's really going on do you." She spread her uninjured arm towards the vault.

"I can show you everything they've hidden from you. All the lies and deceit they've kept behind this door. I've already opened it, and if you kill me now you'll never know the truth. You'll just keep following orders like a mindless little cog in a much bigger machine."

Suddenly her face turned dark, a solemn expression that jarred Reaper to the core. She tilted her head; her eyes swirled with secrets and information like a whirlpool of depravity.

"And believe me when I say this amigo… it is a much _much_ bigger machine than you could ever imagine," she whispered.

The words lingered, like poison it ate away at Reaper's thoughts. This woman clearly knew something that he didn't, something big. These secrets and questions without answers, he could tell it haunted her. While she appeared careless and lively on the outside, deep down her soul had been consumed by secrets. She was the ghost of a woman trying to find the truth in a world run by liars. It was something he would've done years ago, when he had tried to cleanse the world with his own two hands.

He didn't want to show her mercy, he didn't want to let his prey go, and he certainly didn't want to agree with her either. Yet he did and that deeply disturbed him. He slowly lowered his shotgun still watching her like a hawk.

"What's in that vault that's keeping you alive?" he asked in a low voice. She paused and slowly turned her head to glance at it, "everything of course. Every little secret Talon has, probably everything you don't know," she teased.

Reaper didn't respond to that, he refused to give her control of the conversation.

"How do you know I won't kill you once we're inside?" Reaper countered, raising his shotguns.

She gave a little sigh of disappointment, as if he wasn't getting an obvious joke. "Please, we're way past that point. I'm not exactly in great shape over here," she gestured to her wound which was still bleeding. "So if you're going to kill me just do it already. I mean, you've only got access to all of Talon's greatest secrets to lose right?"

Reaper grunted in response to her sarcasm. "I'm assuming you want to exchange those secrets for your life," he said.

"I thought that was pretty obvious," she raised an eyebrow.

Reaper lowered his shotguns slightly, but was still alert to the possibility of a ruse. "So your plan is, you show me what's in there and I let you inside to take… whatever's in that vault?" he took a step closer to her.

"Si," she rolled her eyes.

Reaper ignored her impatience, "the vault that I, a seasoned agent of Talon, didn't even know existed until you opened it by force?" he stepped closer.

"Si, yes of cours-"

"and I'm supposed to go along with you and let you steal secret Talon property without batting an eye?" The statement snapped her to attention.

"Eh well hang on-" she raised her hand in defense.

"An act of treason," he continued, "that would most likely get me horrifically killed if Talon ever found out?" He stepped closer and closer as more alarm dawned on her face.

"Wait a second-"

"Or worse, tortured and maimed on a daily basis to be shown off as an example of what happens when you betray Talon?" He was towering over her now, his shotguns at his sides, he could see the delicious fear in her eyes now.

She was panicking, her gaze darted around the room looking for another escape but he intentionally blocked her view so she was forced to stare at him. He liked this, toying with his prey; it was a small enjoyment he savoured like fine wine. He hated that she was able to gain any power over him; she needed to be put in her place. It was a friendly reminder that from now on _he_ held all the cards.

However, he had already made his decision. He knew that as soon as this woman was gone that this vault would forever be closed and he would never get to see what was inside. He needed to know what Shepard was planning for Phase three. If he managed to bend the rules of his loyalty without getting caught he could win the bet with ease and take over Talon himself. Then later he would hunt down this woman and kill her for stealing from Talon. It was win-win for him.

Yet he was slightly disappointed since he really did want to kill her. But with her tricky words she had made herself too valuable. For now he had bigger game to hunt, and he wasn't going to waste this precious opportunity.

"Very well, lead on thief," he cocked his chin.

It took a moment for her to process his words, but relief spread onto her face once she realized her deal hadn't gone sour. "Oh, right of course… ladies first?" she gestured coyly.

Reaper placed a shotgun on the crook of his shoulder, "Funny," he growled, and shoved her into the vault. She gave a quick yelp of surprise as Reaper casually strolled inside the abyss of darkness.

"Remember, I've still got these," he waved both his shotguns into her line of sight, "so don't pull any fancy tricks on me."

The woman glared at him, "don't act all high and mighty Diablo. You're in my world now, so watch and learn."

She strolled over to the wall panel next to the vault door and opened her holoHUD. Within a blink of an eye she typed in the code to close the vault door, and once she did the entire place went dark. Reaper could only see the purple screens that she was bringing up in front of her face. Streams of code flowed like a river as she rearranged bits and pieces of numbers and symbols with amazing speed.

"Now, to sit back and watch the fireworks," she chuckled as she dismissed her purple screens.

It was now entirely pitch black and Reaper gripped his shotguns in alert.

"What are you doing?" his voice growled in warning.

"Oh relax," she called out. She placed her hand on the wall panel and smiled. "As a wise man once said, let there be light!" she commanded with a flourish.

From her hand sprouted tendrils of purple neon light crawling along the walls like rapidly growing vines. The walls were revealed to be round as the vault was cylindrical. The purple light corrupted the surfaces of the walls like a virus extending further and further, revealing that the vault was a vast tunnel digging deep underground. The room descended deeper and deeper with computer servers lined in rows along the fathomless pit. In the middle there was an elevator in order to be able to reach all that the vault had to offer. Looking down from the platform that both of them were on, the bottomless trench being lit up by a purple virus made the vault look sickly and corrupted. It looked as if they were standing inside a hollowed out computer chip, and if either of them fell it would be game over.

"What did you do?" he asked in awe, still staring below at the endless tunnel.

The woman gave a half shrug, "the usual," she smirked.

She brushed her hand against the elevator as it was taken over by the purple tendrils and sprang into life like a possessed contraption. A little bell went off, albeit sounding very distorted, and the doors opened to allow the two inside.

Reaper looked at her in amazement, "what kind of hacker are you? I've never seen anyone do… all of this," he gestured to the entirely hacked vault.

She grinned slyly, "aww, is the big scary henchmen impressed by my work? Well buckle up because you haven't seen anything yet," her violet eyes twinkled with mischief.

She stepped inside the elevator and motioned for him to come forward with her finger. Reaper cautiously joined her, inspecting the purple hacked elevator. She pressed the very bottom button as the two of them were lowered into the depths of the vault.

"So tell me," she spoke over the loud whirring of gears (which judging by the sound hadn't been used in a long time), "what is your name?" Reaper leaned over the side of the elevator to look at the rows and rows of hacked computers slowly passing them.

He couldn't believe how quickly she had managed to hack everything within the vault; surely Talon had to have top security for their most sensitive secrets. How could she just-

"Helloooo? Skull face I'm talking to you. What is your name?" she asked again. Reaper glared at her, "stop calling me that," he ordered.

The woman rolled her eyes, "okay fine, but what is your name?" she sighed.

"I don't see a reason to give it to you, considering you haven't given me yours either," he said absently staring at the computers.

At that she let out a long, drawn out groan. "Look amigo," she snapped, "it's not that simple for me. It's as I told you, I don't have-"

"A name?" Reaper scoffed. "Please. You can stop lying about that, we're both in the same boat now and if I turn you in that means I'm a dead man too. So if you want my name you'll have to give me yours first."

The hacker defiantly crossed her arms, "and why is that? Why can't you give me your name first?" she asked.

Reaper slowly diverted his attention away from the hacked computers as if he was addressing a child.

"Because… I asked first," he shrugged and returned to looking at the computers.

The woman narrowed her eyes and flipped her hair, "whatever, I'll find out who you are by myself." She turned away from him and looked down, "we're almost at the bottom anyway."

Reaper joined her and looked below as well and the purple lights illuminated the ground below. He looked up and could only see ever growing purple lights and darkness from above. "Great," he grumbled to himself. He hated only having one exit, and with the top platform out of sight there was no way he could teleport away. The only way back up to Talon was the slow moving elevator, only operated by the woman he had very nearly killed.

"You know," she spoke slowly, "to be honest I'm actually surprised you didn't kill me," she tilted her head back to look up as she leaned against the elevator. "You seem like the kind of guy who…" she paused as Reaper glared at her. It was a silent warning to pick her words carefully.

She chuckled placing her hand under her elbow. "Well, the kind of guy who doesn't care about anything. Not even who he's working for or the people around him or even just his life in general. What are those called again? Ahh, it's one of those fancy English words. It's a… a…" she tapped the sides of her temples.

"Nihilist?" Reaper asked.

She snapped her fingers, "Si! A nihilist! Ha, I didn't think you'd know what I was saying," she smiled.

Reaper leaned against the elevator rail "are you saying I'm stupid?" he asked flatly.

The woman shrugged unfazed by his intimidation, "well everyone is pretty stupid to me, I can't help that I'm a genius."

She paused momentarily and her eyes narrowed with interest. "I'm sure you can relate eh big guy? Being surrounded by idiots all day?" She strode over beside him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"I mean if you know all those fancy English words you probably know a little more than the average Talon lackey."

Reaper didn't look at her, "yeah… I do. That's all you're going to get out of me."

He didn't bother to face her. He was more interested in the millions of hacked computer servers they were casually passing. The woman's face fell in slight disappointment and she pulled away from him.

"Well, all I'm saying is it's refreshing to know that you're more than just a scary guy in a skull mask. There's more to you which is… _interesting_ ," she smiled brushing her fingers along her cheek.

At that he could see the mischievous glimmer in her eyes. Her mind was trying to put together pieces of a puzzle that she had no business in solving.

"Less interesting than you think," he muttered.

They landed at the bottom of the vault and the elevator bell ringed once again to signal to get off.

"Finally," she sprang up and got out of the elevator. Reaper came out more cautiously to take in his surroundings.

There were more hacked computers, overtaken by the glowing lights just like the ones from above. However there was a much bigger computer, directly across from the elevator that hadn't been affected by the wide spread hack. The woman went straight for it and sat in the big black desk chair. There was a wild gleam in her eye at the prospect of the secrets she was about to uncover.

"This is it!" she grinned as she pulled out a purple USB stick and stuck it into the drive.

Reaper slowly approached from behind her, "what're you doing?" he asked. She raised her hand to shush him. A loading screen popped up and began downloading everything that was on the computer, which took surprisingly less time than what Reaper would've predicted.

"How is it loading so fast?" he asked.

The woman didn't look away from the screen "Compression. It's taking the files and reducing the size to smaller formats so it loads faster. You know PNG to JPG and WAV to MP3, that sort of thing. I encoded the USB to assign every file with the smallest format with a database of all the convertible codecs to-"

"Okay great, I don't care anymore. Shut up," Reaper rubbed his temples in annoyance.

She rolled her eyes, "hombre if you don't care, don't ask."

The loading screen finished and then a white skull over a purple background appeared in its place. The woman grinned and pulled out the USB, tossing it up in the air and catching it victoriously.

"Done, and done," she smirked. Suddenly she winced in pain cradling her arm again in slight annoyance. In her moment of victory she had forgotten all about her injury.

Reaper strode up behind her slowly, "you didn't forget the rest of the deal, did you?" he asked crossing his arms.

The hacker turned around quickly composing herself and laughed. "Relájate, I never forget a deal."

With that she lifted the USB up to the back of her neck, and a slot appeared to insert it. Reaper watched in amazement as she stuck it in her neck and held her palm outwards. She opened her eyes and bits of code swirled around in her pupils, appearing to be downloading everything on the USB in rapid speed through her eyeballs.

Then from her palm a much bigger holoHUD erupted from her hand, presenting a large stack of compacted files being held together with the image of a zipper. She lowered her hand and flashed a quick grin to Reaper.

"Brace yourself hijo," she winked as she grabbed onto the digital zipper and pulled it down.

Suddenly a surge of holographic files flew across the room like a rabid swarm of fireflies. Reaper looked and tried to track them all as they darted everywhere, above their heads, around their arms and by their feet. He watched taking in the sight of the files flying around in chaotic patterns.

Then a circular grid appeared around them and the files were pulled towards it like a magnet. It was as if a swarm of fireflies had flown into a digital spider web and were stuck in their place. Finally the files had stopped moving and the net they had been caught on slowly spun around Reaper and the hacker like a carousel.

"What was all that?" Reaper asked pointing to the files.

The woman waved a hand, "classic failsafe, these files are programmed to automatically erase themselves if they're in the wrong hands. Ah but you see here amigo, I deleted that coding but the files still behave the same so this web here," she pushed the circular grid a little making it spin slightly faster, "this makes them think that they've been erased which is why they're attracted to it. That way they stay in one place," she tapped the side of her head.

"Clever huh?"

Reaper couldn't help but stare at the woman incredulously. "How the hell do you know all of this?!" he spread his arms around.

The woman's smile fell and she raised an eyebrow, "you know I would tell you but… I'm not going to," she tilted her head slyly and turned back to the carousel of files.

She brushed her hand along the files and walked around, "well? Go ahead amigo. What was it that you came all this way for huh? Just to stare at me?" she teased.

Reaper grunted in annoyance and decided that the less he spoke to this woman the better. He looked up at all the files and the names as he tried to find the one he wanted. Project Widowmaker: Phase Three.

The hacker inspected the files like they were books in a library. "You know there are some pretty interesting files here, some even I didn't know about. Do you even know what it is you're looking for?" she asked.

Reaper grunted, "like you care."

At that the woman froze and slowly turned to face him, "maybe I do a little bit… what exactly would a seasoned Talon agent risk treason and torture to find? What secrets are worth that much… to someone like you?"

She narrowed her eyes, "What secret is worth that much to a nihilist?"

Reaper didn't take his eyes off the files; he didn't want her to know anything about him. This woman was trouble enough as it was and he couldn't afford to give her an inch. He kept searching, spinning the grid faster and faster as he scanned the files. He just wanted to get what he needed and get out.

"Perhaps… Project Widowmaker is what you're looking for?" she asked innocently. Reaper immediately turned to face her as she coyly held the holo file in her hand.

"Ah so it is, that makes sense. After all it is the most recent file that has been added. Let's open it shall we?" she grinned wildly. Reaper lunged at her but she quickly side stepped him and opened it all it one swift move.

What first appeared was security camera footage, and the hacker's eyes grew into saucers.

"Ooooh, I love security camera footage. It makes for the best blackmail," she said clasping her hands together.

Reaper got up from the floor and looked up to see the floating screen with Amelie's cell. Reaper couldn't tear his eyes away once he saw her. In fact, neither could the hacker who gawked at the woman in the cell.

"That's… that's Amelie Lacroix!" she shrieked. "No… NO! No-no-no-no-no!" she laughed hysterically holding her sides. "This can't be real! No puedo creer esto! Talon has kidnapped Amelie Lacroix! Eso es una locura! Oh my god that is too rich!" she fell over laughing more. Reaper stood over the laughing hacker and crossed his arms.

"What's so funny about that?" he growled. The hacker held up her hand and caught her breath.

"You… honestly don't know?!" she giggled. "Hombre do you have any idea what people are saying about her? There are so many conspiracies around her okay? Like amigo there are forums and videos dedicated just to finding out where the hell she is… and she's just been kidnapped by Talon!" The hacker returned to laughing hysterically once again.

Reaper ignored her and turned his attention back to the screen. It was strange watching a recording of her. She was mostly sitting alone on her bed, occasionally singing to herself and sometimes even dancing.

Then eventually he showed up, lured by her singing like a sailor to a siren. Reaper watched himself enter the room like the thug he was; tall, intimidating and scary as all hell. He watched himself yell at her, stomp around like a wild beast and slam his fist into the wall. It was while he was watching himself that he began to feel something _strange_.

He kept watching, even though he had done it all merely hours ago. He watched himself scream at her and demand answers. He cursed and berated her for wasting her life away. Why did she love Gerard? Why was she so content? He remembered all of this, but watching it from the camera was far worse.

This time he could see her trembling and crying. Before he didn't see it, she had turned away from him. Yet this time by the way the camera was angled he could see it all. The raw emotion and confliction drenched on her face made him sink to his knees. He continued watching, every moment they shared together he soaked it all in. It became harder and harder to watch as it played but he couldn't look away.

It got to the part where he had lost his mind, his memories crashing into each other. He had never seen himself while he was having one of his attacks and now he wished he never did. He watched himself; running around screaming, dragging his claws along the walls, and acting like a complete lunatic.

Amelie had no idea what was going on and the sheer horror on her face was so palpable, seeing it for the first time made Reaper sick to his stomach. He was so lost in his traumatic hallucination he couldn't even recognize where he was.

But the most gut wrenching moment he witnessed was when he had dug his beastly hands into her arms. She tried calling out his name but he was still in his trance. Hypnotized by the past, replaying memories like a murderous marionette. He had lifted her off the ground and threw her against the wall, the audible thud sent shivers down his spine.

Reaper with his eyes glued to the screen reacted and quickly reached out as if to catch her from falling. He wanted so desperately to save her from this monster, to take her out of her cage and comfort her. It wasn't his fault, he couldn't control himself. He never wanted to hurt her and he never wanted to make her cry.

But he couldn't save her; it had all been done before. He could only watch himself wrap his hands around his own neck and fall to the ground. Amelie sat up with tears streaming down her face, as she slowly lifted her head to inspect the rabid monster choking himself to death.

Reaper didn't want to keep watching, but he couldn't stop. It was killing him, hearing his own blood curdling cries. He just kept screaming that wretched name, over and over again. He remembered the haunted look on her face when she had told him afterwards.

"You said his name…" that name surfacing more emotion and heartache with every time he said it. He kept repeating it, possessed by the ghosts of his mind. More and more ragged and sorrowful it never stopped. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted to forget, to make it all go away.

"Jack."

Reaper couldn't stop shivering, watching himself writhe on the floor. She had stood over him, shocked at the sight before her as he kept trying to kill himself in his fit of madness.

Then Reaper saw her face shift, she wasn't scared anymore. She had seen this all before and she quickly ripped a piece of her dress off and strode over to the bathroom part of her cell. She sang to him, sang over his screaming and wailing. She caressed his forehead and took his arm. She led him over to the bed, still singing like an angel. He had stopped screaming. He was just listening. He was at peace. The sight itself took Reaper's breath away, and in that moment he wanted to… to thank her.

Reaper lowered his head and slammed his fist to the ground. He was a freak, an absolute monster to her, and she showed him forgiveness. How could he be so blind, so arrogant not to thank her?! She deserved better than this, no she deserved everything; the moon, the stars, and the whole damn galaxy! She was a beautiful angel caged in a shitty cell and all for the crime of falling in love with the wrong person. He lifted his head up once again to continue watching, when she told him to stay with her and keep her company. Watching it now he realized it wasn't for her benefit like she said it was… it was for his.

After she had recorded the song for him they sat on the bed together. Her face was calm and serene as if he didn't throw her across the room like a madman. Eyes still fixed to the screen Reaper's fists began to hurt from how much he was crushing his fingers into his palm. She had smiled at him and began to start up the conversation they had just hours ago.

"Reaper I was wondering, what colour are your eyes?" she asked sweetly. He had turned away from her not saying a word. He couldn't answer that question. Amelie continued,

"If you are not going to tell moi, may I 'ave a look?" she grinned.

"No," he said flatly.

 _"Thank her,"_ he grumbled to himself still watching the screen.

Amelie wasn't fazed, "Ah, then how about I guess? Blu? Brune? Verte?" she listed off as he neglected to respond.

Amelie's smile faded and looked away from him. "I was only asking because now that I know you are a human it is 'ard to picture what your face looks like. I am just curious," she gave a small laugh.

Reaper watching the footage covered the side of his face with his hand. He prayed she'd never see what misshapen horror was encased behind that mask.

"I was also wondering, 'ave you ever loved someone monsieur Reaper?" she asked, her voice soft as a feather. Reaper remembered this all too well. He had turned towards her and looked her square in the eye.

"No." _Never._

Amelie rested her chin on her hands, "ah then you would not understand what it is like for moi. To be separated from mon amour, and to worry every day if he is ever coming back alive."

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, "but even through all of that, I still love 'im. I could not explain it to someone who 'as never been in love. What it is like to want to give the world to them, to become a better person for them, and to relish spending every second with them. It is a type of madness you see… but in a good way," she smiled.

Reaper was silent. She rested her hand on his arm and looked at him.

"Maybe one day you will understand what that is like. Maybe I am a fool… but I am better for it."

The camera couldn't capture the way her eyes had sparkled at those words. He couldn't speak as he had forgotten how to. It was like she had cast a spell over him, and as he watched he realized that she had cast that same spell over him once again. Reaper had listened to those same words twice now, and they still didn't make any sense, but they made sense to her and that was all that mattered. Even still, he had to be a jackass about it.

"You're right, you are a fool," he stated.

Amelie looked at him, "Oh, so I am the fool?" she rolled her eyes. "Tell me Reaper…why do you care so much about what 'appens to moi?" she asked.

The Reaper watching the footage tensed, his fists hurting even more under the self-applied pressure. The Reaper on screen didn't say anything. Both Reapers, past and present, sat there silently wanting to know the answer to that very question.

Finally he spoke, "and why do you care about what happens to me?" Her face grew red like a tomato. "Because I! …" she blushed harder at how loudly she had started her sentence.

She took a deep breath and spoke softly once again. "I hate seeing a former member of Overwatch like this. I know there is good in you, I know you've just been under something terrible and I know I cannot undo everything but I want to help."

God why was she so nice to him?! He dug his fingers into the floor wanting to rip away the steel paneling from underneath him and sink lower and lower into the ground.

"You're wrong," he had said to her. "Whatever you think you know about me you're wrong." His voice was stern but not angry; he was just making his point.

Amelie pursed her lips and turned her head slightly away from him. "Funny, I could say the exact same thing to you," she said coldly.

"You think you know what is best for moi, when you cannot even take care of yourself," her accent grinded her words.

The Reaper watching the conversation over again unconsciously held his breath.

The Reaper on screen quickly turned to reach for her hand, which at the time he never realized he had done.

"Amelie I'm not-" she ripped her hand away from him.

"Non! I do not want to 'ear what you 'ave to say about my life anymore. You could not possibly know what it is like, and yet you sit there and tell me what to do as if I am a child!" She stood up and crossed her arms. "I do not want to hear that it is moi who is in the wrong 'ere. It is you, and I am the one who is trying to help."

He was dumbfounded by her sudden outburst at the time, but looking back over everything he could see it had been steadily boiling over the course of his rants and tangents about her life.

Reaper leaned back on the bed resting his weight on his arms. He looked up at the ceiling, "You really want to dive into my mind Amelie? Because I can tell you right now… it's not pleasant," he warned.

Amelie touched her fingers to her forehead. "You are impossible," she sighed. "And you try so hard to push everyone away."

Reaper didn't miss a beat. "Do I really look like I want people around me?" he gave a hollow laugh. "It doesn't matter. I don't care what you have to say about me, I've heard it all."

"Non, the truth is you do," she held her arm.

"You care far too much, that is the problem. Do you know what I think? I think deep down you see yourself as a monster, someone who 'as lost everything and is confused and scared. You cannot look at yourself in the mirror because the past haunts you too much. So you 'ave to cut yourself off from it entirely and play the role the world sees you as."

"Amelie you don't under-"

"Non _you_ do not understand!" she cut through his words like a knife.

"You are not a monster," she stated.

"You may look like one, speak like one, but deep down you are human. That is what kills you Reaper, and that is why you do not take off that mask. One day you will… because the mask does not make you who you are."

She touched the side of his face, and it wasn't captured on camera, but re-watching this moment he remembered the way her eyes opened like the sea. Overflowing with sincerity and trust, she looked into his eyes, trying to find the speck of humanity shrouded behind darkness and despair.

"You will see…" she whispered; her words soft like fallen snow.

"… that the man behind it is not as bad as you think."

And then the screen went black. In the darkened reflection of that black mirror he saw himself through the looking glass.

He wasn't sure if he was staring back at the mask that hid his face, or the mask that _was_ his face.

* * *

 _AN: It's been a long time, but in my defense I've been through a lot. I've been recovering from both physical and mental wounds over the past couple months, and I'm back in business now. I'm sorry for the wait but I hope you guys will still be along for the ride. From this point on I'm hoping to get chapters out much quicker, now that I'm not bedridden anymore. Thank you all for your patience and for reading. Also I promise Shepard is coming up in the next chapter ;P Hope you all have a lovely day, and once again thank you :)_


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